Don't Put Ministry on Hold

The next fundamental failure of people who find themselves without a pastor is that they begin to make their search for their next pastor the greatest focus of their church. It is easy to see how this can happen, but you must understand that focusing on the search for a pastor will inevitably result in the reduction of work being done by the programs and people of the church. As a church focuses, it will also function. When a church’s focus is ministry, their programs and people will minister. When a church’s focus is their next pastor, their programs and people will be put on hold until that pastor is found.

As a staff member or lay leader, it is our responsibility to maintain and preserve the focus and passion of ministry for the church. From every angle and from every program, the church needs to hear that ministry will continue to be the focus. The most difficult aspect of such a statement is that we as leaders must be the first to minister in order that our message will be heard.

Ministry is about people. Make sure your focus is about people.

By the Spring

Keeping in mind that the majority of sermons that I have heard preached over Psalm 1 are focused on the part about not being around the wicked, and that little is said about that tree whose roots run deep. I would like to restate that verse in the words of Jeremiah the prophet.

Jeremiah 17:7-8
7 "Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD,
whose trust is the LORD.
8 He is like a tree planted by water,
that sends out its roots by the stream,
and does not fear when heat comes,
for its leaves remain green,
and is not anxious in the year of drought,
for it does not cease to bear fruit."

I think about these trees spoken of by men whose lives, at times, were dry and beaten down by the sun. Nevertheless, these men of God have declared that the righteous will lay his trust in the LORD and that his source of strength will never run out. That he will not fear the hard time, and that the foundation of their existence will never be outlasted by the destruction of this world.

Before you are able to move on to bigger, brighter, or even just other things, you must find your strength in the Lord. Unless you place your trust in Him, the drought that is sure to come will overtake you. The sun will beat you down, and the wind will dry your eyes until there is no vision for ministry left in you.

The Salve of the Scriptures

The Psalms are an outcry of the heart. They are the reflections of men whose lives were rocked by the situation of the day, as well as the destructive nature of their own sin and rebellion. When a staff member or lay leader is in the midst of all of the pain and stress of existing without a pastor, especially when the pastor left under tumultuous circumstances or he has been gone for quite some time; it is easy to become wrapped up in the sorrow of it all. Such devastation and pity are not productive for the Kingdom. We as believers must be able to rest in the strength of the lord for our assurance.

I can’t tell you that have always sought the strength found in the scriptures, but I can say that every time I have, I have found the Psalms to be a great fountain of joy, and a river of peace.

Psalm 1:1-6 (ESV)
1Blessed is the man
who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
2but his delight is in the law of the LORD,
and on his law he meditates day and night.

3He is like a tree
planted by streams of water
that yields its fruit in its season,
and its leaf does not wither.
In all that he does, he prospers.
4The wicked are not so,
but are like chaff that the wind drives away.

5Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;
6for the LORD knows the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked will perish.

Honesty and Humility

Honesty with the Lord is difficult. Partly because we have been told most of our lives that if we ever do something to disappoint our Father, he will smite us like Sodom and Gomorra…also because we believe such of stories of scripture to be truth, and we shudder in fear knowing that He is capable of such acts today. However, I must ask, what is a greater offence to the Almighty, to be seated at the pinnacle of all of existence and have his feet wet by the tears of one of his injured and broken children, or to sit at that very same throne and have his deity mocked by a manufactured smile because, “That’s what Christians do…”?

I am assured by the descriptions from the scripture that the Great King of Glory will lower Himself to our aid through the Holy Spirit if we would but be honest with him. If we would tell him that we are angered and hurt, that we are injured and afraid, and that because we don’t quite know what or why the past is what it is, we tremble to think of that which the future might hold. If our finite expressions meet the ears of infinity with honesty and passion, I wonder, what might be His response?

Fear, pain, hurt, anger, disgust, arrogance, and indifference all find their just end in the presence of the compassionate love of Jesus. Each of these expressions plagues us here in this existence; but the Christ’s passion is sufficient to make these less than a memory. The only requirements from the Lord is Honesty and Humility…that he and his glory might be made known throughout the whole world, and his compassion and love might be made known to others who hurt, through you.

Tool

I heard a story once while I was still a teenager that told of a logger whose dream of being the greatest logger in history was thwarted by a dull axe head. I giggled and chuckled a bit while calling my youth minister a dork for using such a ridiculous analogy.

“He should have used a chainsaw in the first place…Technology will always be able to pick up where we fall short…”

And I suppose I believed myself for many years. That is, until I found myself alone on a Monday morning for the 10th week in a row, asking myself, “Why isn’t this program working?”

Programs and technology will never be able to fix a problem in a church; and it especially will never produce a positive outcome when people’s hearts are broken. The only thing that could help me was to begin to at myself and take account of how dull I had become. It no longer mattered with what force I swung my axe, nor was the outcome affected by how potent my swinging style had been. I was the problem. I must take the time EACH DAY to sharpen myself, in order that I might be effective when force is applied.

Take the time…Make yourself sharp again.

The Scriptures Were Writen for You Too...

One of the greatest tools for our connection with our personal Lord and Savior is the use of the scriptures. Yet, during a time of trial and stress like that of losing your pastor, scripture easily becomes a tool of work rather than a tool of rest and restoration.

The scriptures are a great source of strength and support and must be used that way. One of my struggles when without a pastor was that I used my study and devotion time to prepare myself for some meeting of my church, or a lesson that needed to be prepared. Sometimes, my job as a teacher would distract me from being near the Teacher. For much of my office life I would study the word for the sake of a disciple study for my students. My Bible became nothing more than a source of teaching material.

The fundamental flaw in this scenario is that I failed to utilize the scripture for my own edification. Some have told me that this is a greatly superficial and self-centered point of view, but I disagree. I am fully aware of the way that the scriptures open teaching channels with other people, but none of that teaching will be worth the effort if it simply comes out of the reserve tank.
We need to open the Bible with our notebook in the other room…put the pen down and remove your current sermon series from your memory banks. Sit back and let the scriptures woo you back to a place where the only thing on your mind was your Christ, and how much he loves you. Make the scriptures your only source of strength and allow yourself to become selfish with them.

Whether you are a lay leader or full-time church staff, you must re-plant your feet on the solid rock of the Word of God.

our will...Will be OUR demise!!!

Many times when we are delivered from a position of fear and depression, the Lord makes his majesty and glory most evident. As we gaze into his eyes and fall repeatedly to our knees, we are awestruck by His amazing amazingness…

We wake to find ourselves bruised by the reality of our existence and are forced to resume our trudge through the shadow…

Our first plan when we are in position to lead again is to help these people know the great wonder of the redemptive power of our healing father…but no matter how hard we try, no matter how clever our program might be or how interesting our conceptual conversation has been, we are never able to recreate the movement of the spirit…and we retreat back to our dungeon to rethink this dynamic masterpiece. Caught beneath the landslide of our own emotion and flickering memories of our own rebirth and ignited spirit we struggle to bend the will of the Holy Spirit to our whimsical desires…

Our spirit is broken upon the Solid Rock…and we fall once more into the pit of despair like fledgling newborns.

Find Rest

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
Matthew 11:28-30 (ESV)

Most likely, my most fundamental failure during my early years without a pastor was my inability to take rest in the Lord. Resting in general seemed like a dereliction of my duties, and might just result in my being asked to resign. I began to believe the lie that, “business is next to godliness.” That yoke was laid upon me by the evil one, and I bore that burden for far too long.

My days were long and my toil was great. My ambitions were lofty and my planning was calculated. My hope was steadfast and my aim was true to tradition. The only problem was that my focus was on building great facilities, programs, music, and numbers. The absence of the Holy Spirit during planning was evident in every venture of the church. Occasionally I would find myself in the darkest of times (usually after deacons meetings, or personnel committee meetings) where I would weep and cry out for God’s direction and strength; and God would faithfully deliver me and my broken church to a time of great passion and good work.

Resting in Him is the only way to start the process of growth. It is not through work that we find success, it is through the deliverance of us by the Spirit.